Blind Chinese Activist to Speak in NYC

Blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng (C) and his wife Yuan Weijing (R) arrive at the New York University Village apartment complex in Manhattan in New York, May 19, 2012. AFP PHOTO / MLADEN ANTONOV (Getty Images)

(Newser)
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Chen Guangcheng, the blind Chinese activist who was the focus of a nearly monthlong diplomatic standoff, has a speaking engagement in New York City this week. Chen will speak Thursday at the Council on Foreign Relations in Manhattan. His mentor, New York University law professor Jerome Cohen, also will participate in the event.

The dissident and the professor have been in touch for years, since they met when Chen came to the United States on a State Department program in 2003. Cohen advised Chen while he was in the US Embassy in Beijing, where he was given sanctuary after his daring escape following seven years of prison and house arrest. He is now studying law at New York University after tense negotiations between the US and China. Since his arrival this month, Chen has stayed in faculty housing with his wife and children. (Read more Chen Guangcheng stories.)

Government aid for the blind in China is almost non-existent; millions are forced to live in rural areas where no heat or running water is available. It would be kind of Chen to help bring them to America where they will be provided with a decent life.

Fondue

May 28, 2012 1:45 PM CDT

Seems like every article on Guangcheng he's called 'Blind Chinese Activist'. Pretty soon we're just going to call him BCA.